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Yet, if you have a B vitamin deficiency, you could find yourself with any one or all of these symptoms:

Depression

Dry, rough, cracked, scaly skin

Dull, dry hair

Fatigue

Headache, dizziness

Poor appetite

Constipation and other digestive disorders

Nervousness

Abnormal growth and development

More reasons to take vitamin B-Complex

If you want to make sure that you’re getting the full complex of B vitamins in scientifically chosen amounts.

If you are under stress—either emotionally, physically, or mentally—your body requires more energy. And that means that you need more B vitamins to assist in the metabolic process—or the utilization of food.

If you’re pregnant, adequate folic acid and B12 are vital for having a healthy baby.

If you are over 50 years old, you may benefit from a supplemental boost. Up to 30% of adults aged 50 years and older may have atrophic gastritis—an increased growth of intestinal bacteria—and are consequently unable to normally absorb vitamin B12 in food. These individuals are able to absorb the vitamin B12 in dietary supplements however. Vitamin supplements and fortified foods may be the best sources of vitamin B12 for adults older than age 50 years.1

If you consume a lot of carbs (including alcohol), which require a higher intake of B vitamins for proper metabolism.

Some medications, including drugs used to treat diabetes and peptic ulcer disease, may decrease absorption of vitamin B12. Chronic use of those medications may result in a need for additional vitamin B12.

If you want to lower your homocysteine levels. Homocysteine is an amino acid normally found in blood, but elevated levels have been linked to cardiovascular disease and stroke. In fact, a study from Norway shows that a combination of vitamin B6 and folate reduces homocysteine 32% within five weeks in healthy individuals. This has the potential to significantly lower the risk of heart attack and stroke.2

What to look for in a superior B-Complex

By providing scientifically chosen amounts of the B vitamins, a superior product ensures that you are receiving the correct quantities of each B vitamin to maximize the benefits and eliminate potential risks of taking too much of certain B vitamins. With most B-complex products you are stuck with equal amounts of each B vitamin, without regard for the fact that you want to take larger amounts of certain B vitamins, but smaller amounts of other B vitamins. So it’s important to read the label … in order to know what you are getting!

Can you get t oo much of a good thing?

Riboflavin, or vitamin B2, is an essential vitamin, but almost all “broad spectrum, high potency multiples” contain levels that are far too high!

We are all familiar with riboflavin's bright orange/yellow color, because it's the vitamin that turns our urine yellow after taking vitamin supplements. (Most B vitamins are white and do not turn urine yellow.) Most vitamins protect us from the damaging effects of the sun, but riboflavin has an undesirable property of reacting with light, causing the formation of peroxides, phototoxic compounds and DNA damage.345 In other words, too much B2 can generate free radicals in your eyes and skin when exposed to sun and light.

This problem was first noticed in cell culture studies using excess riboflavin, and has now been demonstrated to be a cause of liver dysfunction in people fed with intravenous vitamins containing riboflavin. The riboflavin actually reacts with the light in the room, forming a variety of toxic compounds.6 Many of these phototoxic compounds are extremely damaging.

The combination of sunlight and abnormally high tissue levels of riboflavin from excess supplementation is a potentially dangerous combination that should be avoided, and this can only be done by using a supplement that doesn't contain excessively large amounts of riboflavin far in excess of our bodies requirement. Until research has shown that higher intakes of riboflavin are safe and beneficial, we don't recommend exceeding the Recommended Daily Allowance of riboflavin by more than a few times. This would be about 5 milligrams for most people.

Scientific studies show that the Bs provide dramatic health benefits

Women who take multivitamins for at least 15 years may cut their risk of colon cancer by 75%. In the long-running Nurses Health Study (Annals of Internal Medicine, Feb. 1999), Edward Giovannucci, a researcher at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and his colleagues collected data on 88,756 women, including 442 who developed colon cancer during 14 years of follow-up. Women who got at least 400 micrograms of folic acid a day, from supplements or foods such as green vegetables and fortified cereals, had 31% fewer colon cancers than those who got less than 200 micrograms. Folate from food didn’t work as well as from supplements. No one knows why, although bioavailability problems may be to blame. Although only women were studied, other research suggests folic acid has similar effects in men.7

In the same study, the researchers found that women who took multivitamins with vitamin B6 reduced their risk of heart disease by 30%.8

Among postmenopausal women, intakes of folate and vitamin B12 were associated with a lower risk of breast cancer.9 Also, in several epidemiologic investigations, folate intake has appeared to reduce the elevated risk of breast cancer associated with moderate alcohol consumption, and vitamin B6 was also found to possibly reduce the risk of developing breast cancer. 10

A Swedish-American study suggests that a diet supplemented with folic acid lowers the risk of early miscarriage.11 This is in addition to the 1998 finding that folic acid supplementation reduces the risk of birth defects.

3 B vitamins—B6, B12, and folic acid—help prevent heart disease. The newest independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease is excess levels of homocysteine—not cholesterol. Contrary to popular belief, cholesterol does not cause heart disease. It is merely one of the many markers of the disease. In fact, it's quite possible to have a heart attack even if you have "normal" cholesterol levels.

But according to research, there's a definite possibility you'll have a heart attack if you have high levels of homocysteine. What is it? Homocysteine is an amino acid derivative that's naturally found in your body. Too much of it can generate free radicals that increase injury to arterial walls, accelerate oxidation and the buildup of cholesterol in blood vessels, and set the stage for arterial and venous diseases, including stroke.12

The good news is that scientists have discovered vitamins B6, B12, and folic acid can dramatically lower homocysteine levels.

In 1969, Kilmer S. McCully, M.D., of Harvard Medical School found that heart patients had nearly 80% less vitamin B6 than healthy individuals. As a result of his work, he postulated that B6 might help protect the arteries from the damage that precedes heart disease.13 In addition, a deficiency of vitamin B12 is associated with elevated homocysteine levels and folic acid is essential for the proper metabolism of homocysteine.1415 It is estimated that by supplementing with only 400 mcg of folic acid daily the number of heart attacks suffered by Americans each year would be reduced by 10%. It is also estimated that individuals with low vitamin B6 levels have a five times greater risk of having a heart attack than individuals with higher B6 levels! So, be sure to take your Bs.

Vitamin B1 (thiamine) deficiency was observed in patients with anorexia nervosa in a study at the Department of Psychiatry, University of Leister, U.K. The doctors concluded that supplementation may reduce some of the neuropsychiatric symptoms that accompany the disease. 16

Doses of vitamin B6 up to 100 mg a day may relieve premenstrual syndrome (PMS), according to a meta-analysis of published research.
Researchers at North Staffordshire Hospital in Stoke-on-Trent, U.K. statistically analyzed nine studies examining the effect of vitamin B6 supplements on PMS. Another 16 published studies on the subject were deemed of low quality and were not included in the analysis. They concluded that vitamin B6 supplementation appears to relieve PMS symptoms including depression, breast tenderness, and bloating more effectively than placebo.
It’s important to note that doses higher than 200 mg a day may cause nerve damage. Since multivitamins and B complex supplements may contain B6, people taking a B6 supplement should make sure they are not getting too much. 17

Smokers can reduce their risk of lung cancer by getting sufficient B vitamins, according to a study at Pennsylvania State University. Researchers conducted a case-control study, matching 300 randomly selected male smokers who developed lung cancer with 300 controls. Serum measurements of B vitamins and homocysteine, high levels of which are a known risk factor for some cancers, were taken at the study's inception in 1985. The results were adjusted for smoking and body-mass index; cancer patients smoked more and weighed less. In both cases and controls, half the men had inadequate serum levels of vitamin B6, 90 % were deficient in folate, and one-fourth had elevated homocysteine. The most significant finding was that men with initial serum vitamin B6 levels in the top 40 % of the group had only half the risk of getting lung cancer as the men in the lowest 20 %. Insufficient dietary vitamin B6 intake was weakly associated with lung cancer. 18

Conclusion

The most important thing to remember about the B vitamins is that they should all be taken together. They are so inter-dependent in function that large doses of any of them may cause a deficiency in others. So play it safe. If you are not already taking an excellent multi-vitamin/mineral supplement that contains the B vitamin complex, add a B complex supplement to your health regimen … in order to avoid health problems down the road.

Editor's Note:

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9 Comments

October 31st, 2010 at 9:09am by MaryEl

I have Pernicious Anemia and have injections 2x month. My short term memory is not great and I am concerned about the homosysteine levels. How much folic acid should I take and should I have other B supplements?I take a daily vit.

November 22nd, 2010 at 6:38pm by Kris

Take 800mcg (micrograms) of folic acid per day in tablet form. Also take 25mg of Vitamin B6 in tablet form as Pyridoxine HCL.

January 19th, 2011 at 5:23am by Brett

I think the form of B6 called ‘pyridoxal 5’-phosphate’ is the preferred form, actually. All three common supplement forms of vitamin B6 are simply precursors of an activated compound known as pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP), which plays a vital role as the co-factor of a large number of essential enzymes in the human body.

One should always take B6, B9 (folate), and B12 (methyl-cobolamin) - and not individual B’s in isolation.

There are brands like Thorne Research which contain these PROPER forms of the B vitamins. Good health to everyone!!

January 19th, 2011 at 2:58pm by John Morgenthaler, Publisher, Smart Publications

I disagree. P5P is important only if your body is having trouble making the normal conversion of B6 to P5P. And P5P is a LOT more expensive.

Normal B6 is what is in a normal diet so I don’t think it is appropriate to call P5P “proper”. But you are correct that some people seem to need it.

January 19th, 2011 at 3:29pm by Brett

You are mistaken that P5P ‘is important only if..’ body is having trouble processing. This is a common misunderstanding. I’m a researcher and a biochemist.

Also, the multivitamin I take has this form of B6, and is only a few dollars more than a cheaper supplement - NOT a ‘lot more expensive’. Maybe it is more expensive in retail stores but I buy online.

Folate forms of B9 are also superior to folic acid, for several reasons, actually.

January 19th, 2011 at 6:06pm by John Morgenthaler, Publisher, Smart Publications

We’ll check that out further. I’ll believe whatever I see in the research.

August 22nd, 2011 at 5:36pm by Sharon

I have just started taking B12 as I am mostly vegan and do feel alot more energy and am going to start B12, folic acid and B6 together, but I have just read some where that some B12 functions are related to cell division and growth and that cancer is abnormal cell division, B12 is essential for cancer cell survival. I have had breast cancer a few years ago and this frightens me and would like to find the truth if possible. If you can shed any light on this, I would much appreciate it.
Thanks, Sharon

October 10th, 2011 at 6:26pm by lawrence Jay E. Reales

i have a feeling that my joints are beginning to be weak…. it is always cracking.. my question is, Is B complex enough to prevent this feeling?

February 23rd, 2015 at 4:19am by Micky James

Most of the youngsters are not aware about of the bad effects that are caused due to the deficiency of Vitamin B. It is necessary for bone strength as well as managed IT services increasing mind strength. Vitamin B is naturally obtained through sun light.

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